Tag: solemnized beliefs

Caught on a street surveillance camera shortly after their attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, two of the terrorists proclaimed, “The Prophet Muhammad has been avenged!” They were inferring that staff at Charlie Hebdo had violated the Prophet in some way and had now been “punished” in accordance with Islamic Law. Apparently, their “offense” was the unlawful depiction (a satirical cartoon) of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover of their magazine.

Interestingly, a little research will tell you that nowhere in the original historic Islamic Law is there a single edict or decree that prohibits pictorial imagery of the Prophet. More recent “fatwas” issued by the Taliban (published online in 2001) may have given rise to this mythical new law, when they decreed that all non-Islamic statues and shrines in Afghanistan be destroyed. You might suppose that a cartoon drawing of the Prophet might just fall under the description of “non-Islamic artwork,” however, as it would be impossible to destroy all copies of the artwork, do the artists themselves need to be destroyed? Apparently so, in the minds of the extremists involved. Accord to them, the Prophet Muhammad would condone their actions and reward them in the afterlife.

To those of us with less fanatical Islamic sensibilities, we are left deeply saddened, perplexed, and angry over the spurious logic concocted to support their murderous acts.

So, our “problem” with beliefs is nothing to do with beliefs themselves, as they are neutral psychological constructs developed by our egos so that we can make sense of the world. The problem lies with the amount of energy our egos assign to our beliefs over time—both from an individual’s standpoint and collectively as groups. Putting a great deal of energy behind a belief, particularly emotional energy, is what propels them from being “open to debate” into incontestable camouflaged beliefs masquerading as absolute “truths.”

We need to understand the true nature of beliefs*

When we emotionally nurture a belief into a truth, it becomes serious. That is, we can no longer examine them, debate them, or make fun of them—according to our egos. We solemnize them. Religions are very good at solemnizing their beliefs. Moreover, when beliefs are seriously solemnized they can very easily turn into “laws”—seen by our egos as universal laws that must apply to everyone, whether they believe in the beliefs that created them or not!

But beliefs cannot be truths. Remember, there is only one Truth—the Oneness of Consciousness/All-That-Is/Your God. Your ego may be adamant that some of its beliefs must be true, but they are always only your personal truths—the beliefs you imagine to be true.

Beliefs of any description are not Truth; therefore, they cannot be taken seriously!